Non-destructive install of 987 seats into a 986?
 

Hey all, I've scoured this forum, Pelican parts, 101 projects for your Boxster, YouTube, Google, ChatGPT, eBay, reddit, and everywhere else I can think to look and I'm at a loss. I'm hoping the right person lurking around this sub might have the secrets to the riddle I seem to have written for myself.

I bought a rough and ropey 986 in 2023 and have been trying to spruce it up ever since. The original seats are cracked, torn, and missing foam in some places. Naturally, this seemed like a good place for an upgrade instead of a 1:1 replacement. I found some 987 seats for $688.25 that I would like to install in my Boxster, but they are far too tall as standard and need power to get to the correct height.

I've found a million-and-one tutorials that claim to be for this install process but all of them cover an ultra specific section of the install and assume you've already wired everything together.

I expect I will sell this car in a few years, as it's an auto and I'm craving a manual. Because of that I want to make sure any modifications I make are either reversible or add more value to the car than they are worth (impossible to do when the car has 162k on the clock). I know I got a screaming deal on the 987 seats so I'd probably pull them out when I sell the car and swap the old seats back in. This is why I need to not destroy the wiring harness, I need to be able to undo the work one day.

I'm completely lost here and hope someone here might be able to guide me in the right direction with this project.

Source an extra set of connectors for the 986 and 987 and build yourself an adaptor cable. Doesn’t have to be very long, just enough wire so you can work with it.

I’d just install the seats permanently and call it a day, but that’s me.

https://www.planet-9.com/threads/987-2-base-seat-to-14-way-memory-seat-conversion.255990/

Check out this thread on Planet9. The thread contains a pdf with full instructions. (The pdf file is too large to post on this forum.) As Tom suggests, making an adapter out of parts from your 986 seat harnesses should meet your requirements. Beginning on page 12 of the document, there are instructions and photos of the adapter I used to mate the 997/987 seats to my 986.

You don't state exactly which model of seats 987/997 seats you bought or whether they are heated. (Even if you bought the base seats $688.25 is a great price.) If you post a photo of the controls on the side of the seat, I may be able to provide more specific guidance. The base 987/997 seats don't have a powered height adjustment, but the other models do.